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THE CONVERSION 
OF PA. 

BY 

WM- PERRY. 



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Denver, Colo. 



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ELDRIDGE ENTERTAINMENT HOUSE 

FRANKLIN, OHIO, also 944 S.Logan, DENVER, COLO. 



The Conversion 
of Pa 



By WM. PERRY 



Copyright, 1920, Eldridxe Entertainmanfc Houss. 



-PUBLISHED BY 



ELDRIDGE ENTERTAINMENT HOUSE, 

FRANKLIN, OHIO DENVKR. COLO. 



^^ 



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CAST OF CHARACTERS 



Josiah Armstrong — An old-fashioned but 
inflitential farmer. 

Mrs. Armstrong — Josiah Armstrong's wife. 

Nellie Armstrong — Their daughter 

Willie Armstrong—Their 12-year-old son. 

James Thornton — County Agricultural Agent. 



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The Conversion of Pa 



ACT L 

(Breakfast ju^t linished, Mr. Arin^fronff reading ir. 
r.ewspaper Mrs. Armstrong and daughter deoring the 

table. ) 

Mr. A.r7r>. strong — Well, well, well! Of all the fool 
things. 

Mrs. Ar)nstrong — \Vhat*3 wrorg, Josiah? 

Mr. .4. — I see here where a so-caUed farm demon- 
stration agent has been hired to show us ho\v to farm. 
The very idea of such a thinorl What is the Avorld coming 
to? 

Mrs. A. — W^hat ({q you mean by that? 

Mr. A. — I don't know, except it says that the govern- 
ment has employed these so-called experts to travel 
around to show us ffirmers how to grow more corn and 
other crops on the land by improved methods. 

(Mr. A. drops paper and moves to another chair.) 

Mrs. A. — It seerns to me there is room, for improve- 
ment on this farm. 

Mr. A. — liook nere, Jane, I have been making a liv- 
ing on this farm ever since we were married. Now, some 
upstart of a white-collared, book-learned college fellow 
comes along telling Tne how to farm. 

Mrs. A. — It may be that he wants to show you somri 
m.ethod to produce larger yields with less effort. 



6 The Conversion of Pa 

Mrs. A. — Nellie and I have great faith in these up-to- 
date, progressive movements, especially the Boys' Giub 
Work. If v^e could only get him to let Willie try his hand 
at it. 

Mr. r.— How old is Willie? 

Mrs. A. — Twelve years of age. 

Mr. T. — Does he seem interested in the club idea? 

Mrs. A. — Yes. After reading the announcement in 
the paper this morning, he seems just crazy to join the 
club. 

Mr. T. — Suppose you call him in. 

Nellie — (goes to door and calls) Willie, Willie, come 
here a minute. 

(Enter Willie.) 

Nellie— Willie, this is Mr. Thornton, the Boys' Club 
laan. I told him you wish to join, but I think it best that 
you wait until next year on account of father's objections. 
It may be he will become converted when he hears of the 
success of other boys in the county. 

Willie, — 1 sure would like to be in the club this year, 
and I think Pa ought to let me do it. 

Mr. T. — Look here, Willie. I am glad you have the 
ambition to be a club miember, but it is one's first duty to 
obey his parents. I think I can get your father over. 

Mrs. A. — What is your plan, Mr. Thornton? 

Mr. T. — All that I ask is that none of you reveal the; 
fact that I am county agent. 

Mrs. A. — If you will excuse me I will be getting on 
the dinner. 

Mr. A. — (outside) Whoa, Dan. Willie, come take 
this horse. 

(Exit Willie.) 

Nellie — Why, that is father. He must have changed 
his mind about going to town, or else he made the trip 
mighty quick. 

(Enter Mr. A.) 



The Conversion of Pa 7. 

Nellie — You are back quite soon. 

Mr. A.— Yes, T met Mr. Tones, whom I wanted to see, 
and did not have to go all the way. 
(Enter Mrs. A.) 

Nellie — Father, let mo introduce you to Mr Thorn- 
ton. 

Mr. A. — I ani glad to meet you. l^t's see, what is 
your line of business? 

Mr. T. — I am traveling through here, having in view 
the making of my home in this locality. 

Mr. A. — Thornton, you say, James. Thornton? It 
seems to me that is the name of a county agricultural 
agent, who has been (raising voice) thrust on us. Where 
is today's paper ? 

(Mr. A. looking through a bunch of papers, Mrs. A. 
qidetly pitshes the day's paper ivith her foot under couch.) 

Mr. A. — (continuing) It seems strange a paper can't 
last a day in this house. 

Mr. T. — I know^ whom you refer to. Strange to say, 
a fellow by my name has been appointed as agent. I have 
been wanting to locate hereabouts, and as soon as I le'Srn- 
ed an agent was appointed I fully made up my mind to 
come and get the benefit of his advice. 

Mr. A. — So you are one of these new-fangled farm- 
ers; goodness help you, is all I can say. If I were you, I 
would locate in some other community, where people are 
fools enough to believe such rot. 

Mr. T. — I think I will reserve my decision and look a 
little further in the county. 

Mr. A. — (aside) You said a wise thing my boy. 

(Enter Willie.) 

Mr. T. — (coniinuing) I think I will be going now. I 
hope to see you later on, when I hope your mind will 
change regarding improved methods of farming. 

Mr. A. — It will take more than you, all the experi- 
ment stations and demonstration agents combined to con- 
vert an experienced farmer like myself. 



8 The Conversion of Pa 

Mr. T. — (moving toward door.) By the way, Mr. 
Armstrong, I have in my case a package of corn a friend 
of mine gave me to plant. He represents it as a very fine 
variety. I may not get settled, so I thought I would let 
you introduce it here, as I have learned that you are quite 
influential in this section. 

Mr. A. — Nothing doing, I have in my crib corn that 
has passed down from my grandfather. It can't be beat. 
Mr. T. — How much do you average to the acre? 
Mr. A. — Oh, about 20 bushels. 

Mr. T. — I don't see why you should object to trjang 
out this corn. I have hei'e enough for an acre. 

Mr. A. — I told you I would not fool with it, but since 
that boy, Willie, has been making so much fuss about 
getting in that measley thing they call the corn club, I 
think I will just give him that corn to plant as a sort of 
consolation. 

Mr. T. — ^And let him be a member of the club? 

Mi-. A. — NO! (Aside.) I won't take chances on hav- 
ing the neighbors make sport of me, growing that im- 
proved corn. (To Willie.) Willie, do you want to plant 
that corn as a holiday patch? 

Willie — Yes, Pa, I will take it. 

Mr. T. — I'll read the directions on the package for 
growing it. (Reads.) Prepare the land well. Distribute 
broadcast 200 to 400 pounds of high-grade fertilizer and 
mark off the land in rows 3y2 feet apart and place kernels 
2 feet apart in rows. Cultivate the corn level and shal- 
low and as often as possible. 

Mr. A. — Ha, ha, ha! Of all the idiotic ways of grow- 
ing corn. Why, that patch will be the laughing stock of 
the county. But freaks must have their day. Go ahead, 
Willie, and do as the directions say. 

Mrs. A. — (looking out of the window.) Josiah, 
there's all the cows out. 

Mr. A. — Good-bye, sir. Come, Willie, help get up 
those cows. 



The Conversion of Pa 9 

(Exeunt Mr, A. and Willie.) 

(Nellie goes vnth Mr. T. to the door. They stand 
quietly conversing for a few minutes and Mr. T. passes 
cut,) 

CURTAIN. 



ACT II. 

(Mr. Armstrong's sitting room. All the members of 
the family sta^iding excitedly looking over th& headlined 
of a newspaper.) 

Mr. A. — Who would have thought it? I can hardly 
believe my eyes. Some mistake may have been made, 
though I hope this is true. 

Mrs. A.- — So, you are convinced that there is some- 
thing in what you call "new-fangled" farming? 

Mr. A. — Believe me, this is the day of wonders. 

(Door bell rings. Nellie trips to door, admitting Mr, 
Thornton.) 

Mr. T. — Just listen to the headlines of this paper. 
(Reads.) "Corn Prize at State Fair Awarded to Willie 
Armstrong, of Blake County." Isn't that too good to be 
true? 

Mr. r. — Well, Willie, you have my congratulations. 
Have you converted your dad, yet? 

Willie — Yes, I think he is convinced that our way is 
right. 

Mr. T. — Mr. Armstrong, I want you to tell me the 
history of that corn crop. 

Mr, A. — I had mighty little faith in that proposition, 
as you know. It looked for a time as though my corn 
would beat Willie's all hollow, but he kept pegging away 
until the dry w^eather came, and my com began wilting 



10 The Conversion of Pa 

and his kept green. From then on I never saw such fine 
corn. Neighbors came from miles around to see it. Fin- 
ally a representative of the county experiment station 
heard of it and made a trip here to take a look. He told 
Willie he ought to exhibit some of his corn, and offered 
to select the sample. Well, sir, he's got the prize and I'm 
proud of him. 

Mr. T. — How much corn did he make? 

Mr. A. — Sixty-five bushels. 

(Phone rings.) 

Mr. A. — (Goes to phone. Speaks.) Yes, this is Jo- 
siah Armstrong. '^' "^ Yes, Willie is my boy. ■•' "■ He 
made sixty-five bushels of as fine corn as ever grew. - ■'^' 
How much do you say you'll give him for it? ■• '" Three 
dollars a bushel? (To Willie.) Come here. Willie, a man 
is phoning to know ii you will take $8.00 a bushel for 
your corn for seed. Will you take it? 

Willie — You bet I will, but I will give you all you 
need, fir.=;t. 

Mrs. A, — Josiar,, I must let you in on a little joke. 
This Mr. Thornton i> our county agricultural agent. It 
is he who came to see you in the spring and got Willie on 
to raising that corn. 

Mr. A. — (gettiyig up and extending his hand tot 
Thornton.) Give me your hand, old top. You have con- 
vinced me that I do not know all about farming. You have 
played your hand well. I shall look to you often for ad- 
vice in the future. 

(Exeunt Mrs. A.. Nellie and Willie. They may be 
seen by the audience listening at a cracked door, unnot- 
iced by Mr. A. or Mr. T. ' 

Mr. T. — Ever since my first visit here I have been 
possessed of a strong admiration for your daughter. The 
ties have grown vStronger day by day. 1 have just secured 
an option on the Ben Taylor place, which I wish to devel- 
op into a model farm w^hile engaged in my county agent 
work. To grace this home, sir, T ask the hand of Nellie. 



The Conversion of Pa 11 

Mr. A. — Mr. Thornton, your request is granted. 
With a man of your diplomacy, I am willing to trust my 
daughter. 

{The family rushes in.) 

Mr. T. — Nellie, your father said "yes."' 

Mrs. A. — I shall add my hearty approval. 

Mr. T. — Say, Mr. Armstrong, are you going to vote 
against the county agent business again? 

Mr. A. — I shall not only emphatically endorse the 
work, but shall use my influence in helping develop com- 
munity clubs, better roads, schools and churches. 

Willie — And Pa, may I join the com club? 

Mr. A. — Go to it, son, and get every boy you can in 
the neighborhood to join, too. 

Willie— Goody ! Goody ! 

Mrs. A. — Let us all go in the parlor and sing ''Home, 
Sweet Home." 



CURTAIN 




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